1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to mapping of cells and tissue and more particularly to imaging mass spectrometry with mass tags.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,300 for a method and apparatus for imaging biological samples with MALDI MS, issued Sep. 15, 1998 to Richard M. Caprioli and assigned to Board of Regents, The University of Texas System provides the following state of technology information: “The combination of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and mass spectrometry (MS) provides an effective technique for the analysis of femtomole/attomole amounts of proteins and peptides. The low load levels and high separation efficiency of capillary electrophoresis are well suited to the mass measurement capability and high sensitivity of mass spectrometry. A considerable amount of work has been published using electrospray mass spectrometry for on-line coupling to capillary electrophoresis.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,586 for methods and apparatus for analyzing biological samples by mass spectrometry, issued Jun. 29, 2004 to Richard M. Caprioli and assigned to Vanderbilt University provides the following state of technology information: “A specimen is generated, which may include an energy absorbent matrix. The specimen is struck with laser beams such that the specimen releases proteins. The atomic mass of the released proteins over a range of atomic masses is measured. An atomic mass window of interest within the range of atomic masses is analyzed to determine the spatial arrangement of specific proteins within the sample, and those specific proteins are identified as a function of the spatial arrangement. By analyzing the proteins, one may monitor and classify disease within a sample.”